Last updated on August 8th, 2024
If you’re planning a trip to Italy, you’re probably already thinking about what you’re going to eat!
Italy is famous for so many foods and dishes, some of which have become favorites and staples all over the world. Other traditional dishes in Italy, however, have remained central to their Italian origin, making them must-tries for first time visitors.
I have been living in Italy since 2012 and helping friends, family, and visitors navigate the most iconic food Italy has to offer. Let’s take a look at:
- the most famous Italian foods
- dishes and ingredients to try throughout the Italian peninsula
- personal recommendations
Learn More: Read 85+ Facts About Italian Food Culture!
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Cicchetti
Cicchetti (pronounced cheek-keht-tee in Italian), sometimes seen written as cichetti or cicheti in the local Venetian dialect, are small snacks or bites that are typically served at bacari in Venice. They are usually small crostini, open faced sandwiches, a slice of polenta with a sauce or topping, a small piece of cured meat or fresh fish. Cicchetti are usually accompanied by a small glass of wine or other low ABV drink such as a Spritz.
Where To Eat Cicchetti In Venice: My favorite place to eat cicchetti in Venice is at Bancogiro. You can find a full list of my favorite bacari in My Favorite Cicchetti In Venice – The 10 Best Bacari To Try.
Focaccia
Focaccia, one of the most traditional and iconic foods in Italy, is a staple flatbread made throughout the entire peninsula commonly enjoyed as an aperitivo, as a snack or even for breakfast in Liguria.
In Tuscany we call it schiacciata, defined by its particularly crunchy and salty crust. To find out where the best schiacciata is in Florence, read The Best Schiacciata In Florence – Hint: It’s Not Where You Think.
Where To Eat Focaccia In Italy: In Liguria’s capital of Genoa.
Arancini
Arancini are a classic food Italy is famous for made by deep frying rice balls that have been stuffed with other flavors such as cheese, cured meats or vegetables.
Sometimes called supplì by the Romans, these fried snacks are popular Italian street foods that you must try while in Italy. Arancini are bigger while supplì are more oval shaped, often a bit smaller and served as an appetizer in restaurants in Rome.
Where To Try Arancini in Sicily: Pasticceria Savia in Catania.
Truffles
Truffles in Italy are a type of rustic wild mushroom that must be foraged. They cannot be cultivated, making them one of the top foods to try while in Italy. The best varieties grow in the fall but you find them in the spring and summer as well, depending on what region you are in. To learn more about where truffles grow in Italy, read Truffles in Italy – All You Need to Know About Tartufi.
Where To Try Truffles In Florence: Procacci in Florence is famous for their small truffle sandwiches. Alternatively for a full truffle meal, eat at Le Tre Panche.
Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil is a staple in Italian cooking and a top souvenir or gift to bring back from your travels. Olive oil is produced in most regions in Italy but some of the best comes from Puglia. Look for olio nuovo in November, just after the new harvest for the best of the best.
To learn more about olive oil in Italy check out 20+ Ways Italians Use Their Extra Virgin Olive Oil + When They Don’t and How Italians Cook with Olive Oil.
Where To Try It: Try olive oil in any region but in particular, Puglia or Tuscany.
Bring It Home: Olive oil is one of my favorite Souvenirs to Buy at the Grocery Store in Italy.
Cured Meats
Cured meats in Italy are huge and play a major part in the Italian diet. It’s often used as an ingredient to flavor other simple dishes rooted in la cucina povera (poor man’s cooking). There are so many different kinds but the main types are:
- Prosciutto crudo – best from Parma but produced all over Italy
- Bresaola – lean cured beef from Lombardy
- Salame – a marbled cured pork
- Mortadella – a cooked pork deli meat flavored with spices
Cheese
Cheese in Italy varies significantly from region to region. Many Italian cheeses from central and southern Italy are made from Sheep’s milk while northern Italian cheeses are typically made from cow’s milk. Below is a short rundown of the most famous cheese to try in Italy.
- Pecorino – sheep’s milk cheese aged for various times
- Parmigiano – a famous aged cheese served with pasta and used in cooking
- Ricotta – a soft, fresh cheese used in cooking and desserts
- Mascarpone – another soft cheese used in pasta dishes, cream sauces and desserts
- Mozzarella – fresh cow or buffalo milk, to try it order a caprese salad
Should you like to read and learn more about Italian cheeses, check out Italian Cheese – All You Need To Know Before Coming to Italy.
Where To Try It In Tuscany: head to Cugusi, a famous pecorino cheese factory just outside of Pienza or in Campania for fresh mozzarella di bufala.
Pizza
Pizza is one of the most iconic dishes from Italy that is enjoyed all over the world but if you are coming to Italy for the first time, it should be top of your list.
The most famous pizza is from Naples but you can eat it throughout all of Italy, each region specializing in a specific kind of pizza (thin crust, thick crust, pinsa, alla pala, a taglio).
Pizza Basics: To learn more about pizza in Italy, check out
Ordering Pizza in Italy
Authentic Italian Pizza Toppings
Best Pizza In Venice, Italy – My ‘Don’t Miss’ List
Best Pizza in Florence, Italy – From a Local
How Do Italians Eat Pizza?
Do Italians Eat Pizza With a Fork?
What is Pinsa?
Where To Eat Pizza In Italy: Sorbillo in Naples
Pasta
Pasta is a staple in Italian cuisine, one of the most traditional Italian foods that we eat everyday. Every region has their own kind of pasta based on what grows best in the area but also linked to the historical and cultural identity of each.
You will find several kinds of pasta in Italy, the most famous kinds being:
- stuffed pastas (common in northern Italy)
- lasagne (best in Bologna)
- dried pasta (found throughout Italy but famously from southern Italy)
- fresh pasta (southern Italy)
- egg pasta (famously from Emilia-Romanga)
It’s unlikely you will spend your entire vacation in Italy eating pasta but be sure not to miss these top pasta dishes and sauces.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Spaghetti carbonara, arguably Italy’s most iconic pasta dish, is a Roman spaghetti dressed in a creamy sauce made from bacon, eggs and parmigiano cheese.
Where To Try It: Da Francesco in Rome
Tortellini
Tortellini are made from egg-based pasta sheets filled with prosciutto, mortadella, pork loin, parmesan and just a hint of nutmeg. They are then sealed and simmered in both or cooked normally as pasta and dressed in meat sauce of butter.
Where To Try It: Drogheria delle Rose in Bologna
Lasagne
Lasagna is a type of baked pasta from Italy made from flat sheets of fresh egg pasta layered with different sauces such as meat ragù, béchamel sauce (a white sauce) and/or various vegetables and various types of cheese.
Where To Try It: Emilia-Romagna
Pasta alla Norma
Pasta alla Norma is made from tomatoes, garlic and basil that are cooked with fried eggplant into a silky sauce and is finished with grated ricotta salata, a hard ricotta cheese.
Where To Try It: Nuova Trattoria del Forestiero in Catania in Sicily
Gnocchi
Gnocchi are small potato dumplings most popular in northern Italy but enjoyed throughout the entire peninsula. Many restaurants serve gnocchi as a specialty one day a week with their house pasta sauce, so keep your eyes out for it no matter where you are. To learn all about gnocchi, read Gnocchi Vs Pasta – What’s The Difference? + When To Use Them.
Where To Try It: Anywhere in northern Italy
Risotto
Risotto is a slow cooked rice dish with wine and broth flavored with seasonal ingredients.
Milanese
Risotto alla Milanese is a risotto flavored with saffron from Milan.
Where To Try It: Milan
Primavera
Risotto primavera is made only in the spring (March, April and May) from seasonal produce like spring onions, peas and asparagus.
Where To Try It: Restaurants in Venice
Ai Funghi
Risotto ai funghi is a real treat if you are visiting Italy in the fall. You can find it made with various types of foraged mushrooms or my favorite, porcini mushrooms.
Where To Try It: Tuscany, Umbria and Piedmont
Polenta Concia
Polenta Concia is one of the most iconic dishes in Italy made from polenta that is traditionally cooked in a copper pot with plenty of butter and Fontina cheese. It’s so filling and rich that you won’t need anything else besides a side salad.
Where To Try It: Aosta Valley
Cotoletta alla Milanese
Cotoletta alla Milanese is a butter-fried veal cutlet from Milan that can be found throughout the entire region of Lombardy.
Where To Try It: Milan
Vitello Tonnato
Vitello tonnato, meaning “tuna veal” is a typical cold secondo dish of Piedmont made from thin slices of veal covered in a tangy tuna sauce flavored with capers and lemon.
Where To Try It: Tre Galline in Turin
Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken cacciatore is a stewed chicken dish from Italy that is a must-try. Different parts of Italy each have their own recipe but most famously is the version of Umbria made with stewed tomatoes and the white chicken cacciatore from Rome.
Where To Try It: Osteria da Zi Umberto in Rome
Osso Buco
Osso buco is a stewed second course made from veal shanks slowly braised in red wine, soffritto and herbs and served with gremolata. It’s rich and hearty, best enjoyed with a crust of good bread to mop up all the bone marrow.
Where To Try It: Trattoria Da Augusto in Roma
Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Bistecca Fiorentina is a famous food Italy is famous for served in Tuscany. It’s an enormous t-bone steak grilled on an open flame served rare with various Tuscan sides such as roasted potatoes, white beans, Tuscan Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic (Fagioli All’Uccelletto) and stewed greens.
Where To Try It: Regina Bistecca in Florence. For a full list of my favorite steak houses in Florence read Where to Eat Bistecca Fiorentina in Florence – A Local’s Favorite Steakhouses.
Gelato
Gelato is Italy’s version of ice cream defined by a slow churn and seasonal ingredients. Eat gelato in Italy as a snack or for dessert, taking into account the seasonal fruits, which will be the best flavors.
Where To Try It: Eat Gelato throughout all of Italy but my favorite ever gelato is in Rome at Giolitti and in Florence at Edoardo. To read more about my favorite gelaterias in Italy check out Best Gelato In Florence – From A Local and Best Gelato In Venice – My Italian Family’s 10 Favorite Gelaterie In Venice.
Spritz
Spritz is a low ABV aperitif made from Aperol bitters, prosecco and a splash of sparkling water. You can also order a Campari Spritz or other variety such as a Hugo Spritz or Limoncello Spritz.
If you don’t drink, look for non-alcoholic alternatives such as Crodino or read 8 Italian Mocktails We Actually Drink In Italy (And How To Make Them).
Where To Try It: Padova or Venice. Read about my favorite places to drink in Venice in Best Spots In Venice For Aperitivo and My Favorite After Dinner Drink Spots In Venice.
Tiramisù
Tiramisù means “pick me up” and that is exactly what this coffee-based dessert is intended to do. Lady finger cookies are dipped in strong coffee, layered between a sweet mascarpone cream and served chilled on a plate or in a bowl as individual servings
Where To Try It: Veneto or Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Panna Cotta
Panna cotta is one of the top desserts Italy is famous for. It’s made by cooking sweetened cream in a water bath until just set. It’s then chilled and unmolded and sometimes served with a chocolate or a mixed berry sauce.
Where To Try It: Piedmont
Cannoli
Cannoli are a traditional Sicilian dessert and one of Italy’s most famous foods made from a fried pastry shell stuffed with sweetened ricotta cream.
Good To Know: When you say cannoli in Italian, it means more than one. If you are ordering just one, the correct term is cannolo.
Where To Try It: Sicily
